About Anna Hazare

Anna Hazare was born as Kisan Baburao Hazare January 15.1940 at Bhingar, Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. This well-known social worker hails from a modest background. His father was an unskilled laborer and owned 5 acres of cultivable land. Adverse growing conditions pushed the family to handle poverty and in 1952 moved to Hazare ancestral home in Ralegan Siddhi. He was raised by a childless aunt who financed his education in Mumbai, but economic instability pushed sales of flowers for a living and had to abandon his studies after class VII. Shortly after he joined the Indian army and trained as a truck driver and was given a posting in Punjab. days in the Army were spent in reading books by great thinkers such as Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave. Their thoughts inspired him to devote his life to social work. Almost two fatal mishaps in the 1965 war with Pakistan changed perspective towards life and seeking voluntary retirement from the army he returned to his ancestral village in 1975. Ralegan Siddhi, ancestral village, then in the grip of drought and poverty.

To improve the situation of the village began to work independently. He used all his savings on a development project in the village. It is the incentive for villagers to volunteer work by Gandhian philosophy. Canals and bunds were built to keep rain water which solved the problem of water scarcity, and increased opportunities irrigational village. Solar panels have been installed throughout the village to provide electricity, biogas met need of people for household fuel and air pumps and those set-up.

The village did not suffer from lack of water and has its own bank of wheat, milk bank and a school. Poverty was no longer in the village and Hazare himself has successfully motivated the villagers to abandon vices such as alcohol. Great emphasis is also laid on education, removal of untouchability and collective marriage and the establishment of Gram Sabha.

Anna Hazare has really emerged as the "Anna" or elder brother of the village and the stature of today no less than a saint. demonstrated the enormous appeal when he was arrested again in connection with a case of defamation in 1998. After massive public protests, was released immediately. His achievements have earned him numerous awards, including the Indira Priyadarshini Award Vrikshamitra, Krishi Bhushana the award, the Padmashree and the Ramon Magsaysay Award.